Ajay was born to be a leader. He’d done amazing work since Hem had left the business and had shark like instincts. If he was worried, things had to be in bad shape. “I’ll be there for the meeting. Whatever you need. How’s Mom holding up?”

There was a deep, frustrated sigh on the other end of the phone. “How do you think? She’s a goddamn rock, man. Yelled at Dad the moment she saw him in the hospital room. Said that he got what he deserved for eating too much mango pickle at night. As if that’s the cause of a heart attack.”

Hem missed his mother, sometimes painfully. Her predictable reaction made him smile. “Thank god for small blessings. I’m going to get myself to the airport. Let me know what you can do.”

“Got it. See you soon, brother.”

Hem hung up and walked back over to Faisal who was reading the last set of provisions on his tablet again.

“Everything okay?” he said.

“No. Sorry, but I need to go.”

Faisal flipped the cover over his tablet and straightened in his seat. “No problem. This will give me time to review with my team again—”

“No.” Hem picked up the tablet which was luckily still unlocked. He scrolled to the bottom of the page, pulled out a stylus, and held it out. “I know you don’t want to give up control over this financial aspect, but fuck it, Faisal. You’re going to be rich. Stop stalling.”

Faisal gave him an even look but he took the stylus and quickly scribbled his name.

Hem did the same for his portion, and they signed six more sections before Hem saved the document and passed the tablet back to Faisal so he could send it through to Hem’s email.

“Happy now?” Faisal said.

“Thrilled. It’s been a pleasure doing business.” Hem picked up his drink and drained the last of its contents before grabbing his coat and his briefcase. He hated himself for wasting those precious five minutes on this guy when all he wanted to do was get home to his father, but he wouldn’t get this opportunity again.

As he rode up to his floor, he thought about his father and the bitter words they exchanged the last time they spoke. After Deepak Singh meddled in his life so coldly, so painfully, they had never seemed to see eye to eye again.

This takeover attempt and a heart attack changed everything. He still loved his father and despite everything that had happened, he’d do anything to help salvage Bharat, even if it meant coming back to the company.

Hem keyed into his room and booted up his laptop to draft a quick message to his paralegals, his assistant, and the ten attorneys that worked for him.